Sibling Rivalry
by Lyric Medlie
Summary: Various one-shots of the Potter children rivalries! -Written by both me and HarryPotterTwilightlover
1. The Missing Quaffle

One late August, Saturday morning, James awoke in his bedroom, as the sun rose. James loved to practice his Quidditch early in the morning, for his little siblings weren't up at that time.

James quickly awoke, stretched his arms and yawned. He jumped out of bed, and ran to his Quidditch chest. He kept his balls, upstairs, safe in his room, so that all and Lily couldn't touch them.

He thrust the chest open, and was shocked to see that his prized quaffle wasn't in it's place. Quickly, James' mind shot to conclusions.

"ALBUS!" James yelled loudly, not caring if he woke the whole house.

Within moments, Albus was rushing into James' room.

"Are you crazy?" Albus exclaimed. "You wanna wake everyone up?"

"Why'd you steal my quaffle?" James exclaimed. He had either not heard Albus' comment, or was choosing to ignore it.

"How do you know it was me?" Albus exclaimed. "It could've been Lily!"

"LILY!" James automatically screamed. And, as with Albus, she was soon in James' room.

"WHAT?" Lily exclaimed. "I was trying to sleep!"

"Lily, you stole my quaffle!" James quickly accused.

"No I didn't!" Lily exclaimed, anger evident on her face. "Al did!"

"Lily, you liar!" Albus lashed back, glaring at his little sister. "I didn't steal it!"

"WELL SOMEONE DID!" James screamed loudly, anger in his every word.

James stood there, hands on his hips, glaring at his two little siblings, when Harry walked into the room.

Harry had an irritated look on his face as he looked over his children.

"What is going-" Harry started, before all three kids started talking, trying to get louder than the other two. They were each screaming their side of the story, before Harry tried to calm them down. After a moment, Harry had to scream to get louder.

"Quiet!" Harry exclaimed, and it was quickly effective. The three children knew when their dad meant business.

"What is the meaning for all of this shouting?" Harry finally asked. "It's early and on a Saturday no less." And, like before, all three children spoke at once, but this time Harry could make out what each child said.

"SOMEONE STOLE MY QUAFFLE!" James exclaimed.

"JAMES ACCUSED ME OF STEALING IT!" Albus exclaimed, a little after James and Lily finished with,

"ALBUS ACCUSED ME!"

Harry just shook his head at his children's antics.

"One at a time, please. James, please start." James looked over at his two little siblings with a smug look.

"Well, someone, ALBUS," As he said his brothers name, he fixed Al with a glare, before continuing. "stole my quaffle!"

"James! LIAR! I DIDN'T!" Albus quickly exclaimed, glaring at James.

"And guess what else, Daddy?" Lily looked up at her dad. "Albus, accused ME of doing it! ME, Daddy, really ME!" Lily gave her dad a hurt face, and Harry couldn't help but lightly smile at the adorability of his daughter.

"Lily, you're not perfect! It could have been you! So, don't act like you can do no wrong!" Albus rudely told Lily. Lily just gave him a sad look, rolled her lip up, and stomped her foot.

"Lily, please don't stop your foot." Harry said to his daughter, for he was used to her temper; just like her mothers. At Harry's words, James and Al slightly snickered and shared a smug look, before Harry gave them a look.

"I'm sorry, Daddy." Lily said, in her perfectly innocent voice, and then she started to slightly tear up. She knew exactly how to play her father. And, like Lily knew he would, Harry instantly felt bad.

"It's okay, Lily-flower." Harry assured her.

"Umm… could we get back to the more important problem," James cut in. "Like that fact that someone STOLE MY QUAFFLE!"

"Yes, I know James, I heard you the first time." Harry said, and James slightly huffed. "Okay, James, son, how do you know that someone stole it?" Harry asked.

"Well, Dad," James started, speaking as if he was trying to explain something to a small child. "maybe because it's because, IT'S NOT WHERE I LEFT IT!"

"James, let's not yell." Harry chided him. "Your mother is asleep. Now, please tell me what happened, quietly."

"Okay, I woke up, looked in my Quidditch chest for MY quaffle, and it wasn't there." James explained impatiently.

"James, just because you can't find it doesn't mean that Al or Lil stole it. Plus, it doesn't sound like you looked around at all for it, yet." Harry told him.

"Yes it does, Dad! I left it RIGHT here!" James yelled. "I KNOW it was one of them!" James yelled at his two little siblings, and Lily started to cry, and Albus looked a mix between mad and sad.

"James!" Harry exclaimed, clearly not happy with what he had done to his siblings. "You do not yell at your brother and sister like that." Harry scooped Lily up into his arms, and she cried into his shoulder. "I'm sorry that you can't find your quaffle, but you know you don't yell at Al and Lils like that."

"But it's missing!" James exclaimed.

"What's missing?" Everyone heard a new, groggy voice, coming from the doorway, and turned to see Ginny standing there.

"Mummy!" Lily and Albus exclaimed, and Albus rushed to his mother, and she gave him a big hug.

"What's going on in here?" Ginny asked. "I wasn't thrilled to wake up to you three fighting; again."

"Lily or Albus stole my quaffle." James said simply.

"Stole?" Ginny's eyebrow rose. "It's not just yours James, others can share." Ginny said sternly.

"But it's my special one!" James whined.

"James." Ginny said sternly, and James quickly shut his mouth. "And, if you would stop yelling for one minute, and ask where it was, I'm sure you could've found out much sooner."

"Whatever." James said simply.

"James, I took." Ginny said.

"You!" James exclaimed accusingly, before Ginny glared at him.

"I mean, you borrowed it." James quickly fixed his sentence.

"That's what I thought." Ginny rubbed her temple's. "It's too early for this," She mumbled.

"How about we go out for breakfast?" Harry quickly offered, and all three kids looked excited.

"Sure," Ginny smiled at her husband. "That sounds like fun."

A/N- This was the work of both me and **HarryPotterTwilightlover**! So, if you leave me a review, (PLEASE DO!) then give one to her too! We both worked equally hard on this, and are both quite proud of our first story together. Look forward to some more work between the two of us! :D We enjoyed the experience and can't wait for more!

And last order of business: Halie, I love your ideas for this! You were brilliant at it, and I love what we came up with! We're a great team! I hope that there are many more stories between us in the future, and I hope that we have much more fun together. I love you, dear! –Your Triple B, *Lyric!


	2. Alone

James- 7 Albus- 6 Lily- 4

It was a beautiful, sunny, July afternoon, and it was a typical day for the Potters. Harry at the Ministry, Ginny in the kitchen, and the three children playing in the living room off of the kitchen.

As Ginny worked on lunch, James came rushing into the kitchen.

"Mummy, can I please go outside and play?" James asked Ginny as he bounced on the balls of his feet; clearly excited to go out.

"All by yourself?" Ginny asked confusedly. "That's no fun."

"Yes, I wanna ride my toy broom alone." James said, and Ginny could tell that he had put emphasis on the word alone.

"Okay," Ginny nodded her head. "But be careful." James nodded his head, and quickly rushed out the backdoor that was in the kitchen. Ginny looked out the window at him, at wondered why he wanted to be left alone.

Back in the living room, Albus and Lily were still playing, when they noticed that their big brother was missing.

Quickly deciding what they needed to do, Albus and Lily rushed off, and out the door. They frantically looked around until they found James on the Quidditch pitch, racing around on his toy broom.

James seemed to have spotted them too, for he rushed down and stopped right in front of them. He jumped off of his broom and gave them both a glare.

"What do you want?" James asked, his voice implied to be mean.

"We wanted to come see what you were doing," Albus said, like it was no big deal, obviously missing the anger of James. James just rolled his eyes at his little brother.

"Albus, I can do as I want! I don't always have to tell you! I want to be left alone!" James yelled. "GO BACK INSIDE!"  
"We doesn't have to!" Lily shot back at her brother. She had her hands on her hips, in a perfect imitation of her mother.

"Well I said you do!" James exclaimed. "And I'm older!"

"I don't care! You're not the boss of us!" Albus shouted back.

"You're not my daddy!" Lily added.

"I am your older brother!" James pointed out rudely. "And I said for you to go inside!"

"You're not nice!" Lily yelled. "This is OUR house, too!"

"If you don't go inside, I'm going to take you inside MYSELF!" James shrieked, his face red in anger.

"Not uh!" Albus yelled back. "I'm staying right here!"

"RIGHT HERE!" Lily agreed with a stomp of her foot.

"You have about two seconds to leave, or I will make you go inside! I have warned you!" James was getting madder and madder by the second.

"NO!" Albus exclaimed.

"DITTO!" Lily added.

Clearly not wanting to deal with anymore, James grabbed both Albus and Lily's wrists, and attempted to drag them up to the house.

"OW!" Lily screamed, and she quickly pulled away.

James, not minding that Lily pulled away, or not having noticed, pushed Albus over, and jumped on top of him. Albus started screaming like crazy, and Lily shouted at James to stop, as James and Albus wrestled on the ground.

As this was going on, Harry arrived home from the Ministry. He walked out of the flooing room, and to the foot of the stairs, figuring Ginny would be up stairs somewhere.

"GINNY!" Harry called, making sure she'd be able to hear him. In a matter of moments, Harry heard her call back.

"UPSTAIRS!" Harry heard her muffled voice, so he climbed the stairs, and went to their bedroom.

"Hey, love." Ginny greeted him and they shared a sweet kiss.

"Where are the kids?" Harry asked. "I didn't hear them when I got home."

"Oh, their just outside playing," Ginny answered with a yawn.

"You look like you need a nap," Harry told her. "Just relax and I'll take care of the kids."

"Thanks," Ginny smiled gratefully, before they shared another kiss, and Harry headed downstairs.

Harry went into the kitchen, figuring he'd see the kids playing nicely in the backyard, and was shocked to see Albus and James laying on the floor, attacking each other, and Lily standing by them, shrieking loudly.

Harry quickly went outside, and rushed over to his children. He quickly pulled Albus and James apart, holding them away, and thinking if a shield charm would be appropriate right now.

"What is the meaning of this?" Harry asked instead. He looked at each of his children in turn, but they all three kept quiet. "I asked a question!" Harry exclaimed, and he looked directly at James.

"Why are you looking at me?" James exclaimed. "I get blamed for everything! It's SO unfair!"  
"James, we will discuss that later," Harry told him sternly. "But right now I want to know why you and your brother were fighting on the ground?"

"Ok," James whispered almost silently. "Daddy," James started again, although this time more audibly. "I wanted to come outside ALONE and ride my toy broom! But, NO, Albus and Lily followed me out here! I told them to go back inside or I would make them, and they didn't, so I tried to take them inside and ALBUS wouldn't agree and I pushed him-" Albus cut James off here.

"AND JUMPED ON ME!" Albus exclaimed.

"James hurt my arm, Daddy!" Lily added. "I tried to tell them to stop, but they didn't listen!"

"JAMES!" Harry exclaimed. "It wasn't your place to tell them if they could stay outside or not! That was very mean! I'm very disappointed in you! I think you need to go to your room."

"But, Daddy!" James exclaimed.

"Now James!" Harry said sternly. James looked at his dad, before running to the house crying.

"Albus, Lily, please go up to your rooms and play something quietly." Harry told them, and they both nodded their heads. The three of them walked inside, upstairs, and separated to their separate rooms. Harry went to James' door though. He knocked on James' door, and received no reply.

"James, I know you're in here!" Harry called so that James could hear him, rather than trying to be disciplinary. Harry was soon answered with James silently opening the door, and walking back over to his bed. Harry pulled up a chair, and sat next to the bed.

"James, would you like to explain what's the matter?" Harry asked after a few moments of silence.

"You really wanna know?" James asked flatly.

"Yes, I really do." Harry assured him.

"Dad, it's just Albus and Lily are ALWAYS following me!" James exclaimed in frustration. "It's like they have to be with me ALL the time!"

"Oh James," Harry placed a comforting hand on James' knee. "You know that Albus and Lily just love you, and want to be with you, right?"

"But Dad," James moaned. "Sometimes I wish I was an only child."

"James, no you don't. I was an only child, and I wish I was as lucky as you are to have two siblings." Harry explained to him.

"But Daddy, they bug me so much!" James exclaimed.

"James, they're younger and I understand they bug you, but you are their older brother, they look up to you." Harry explained patiently.

"Daddy," James spoke after a minute. "Do you think sometimes me and you could just go somewhere by ourselves once in a while, without Albus or Lily?"

"Sure James!" Harry said happily. "I would love that, but I need you to promise me something?"

"Promise you what?" James asked.

"That if Albus or Lily are bothering you, you come get me or your mum. Do not take matters into your own hands, that will only get you into more trouble. Okay?" Harry asked.

"Okay, I promise." James agreed.

"That's my boy," Harry said proudly. "I think you need to apologize to Albus and Lily now."

"I think you're right." James agreed.

Both Harry and James stood up, and hugged each other. Harry couldn't believe how big his kids were, and so fast too. He loved when he was able to have moments with his children, and be able to teach them things, like this for example.

James soon pulled out of the hug, and rushed out of the room, and down to Albus' room. He rushed in, and over to Albus, who was sitting on the ground playing with some toys.

"Al, I'm sorry I pushed you down." James said, as he helped Albus to his feet.

"It's okay, James." Albus told him. "I forgive you." They too shared a hug, before James rushed off to Lily's room.

James again rushed into her room, and ran over to where she stood.

"Lily-bug, I'm really sorry I grabbed your arm and hurt you, I didn't mean to."

"It's okay, Jamesie." Lily told him. "Do you still want me?" The last part she whispered to him, fear evident in her eyes.

"Of course I still want you!" James exclaimed. "Who else is going to help me pick on Albus? I love you, Lily-bug!" James then grabbed her into a big bear hug, that she happily participated in.

As they were hugging, Harry and Ginny approached the doorway of her room.

"What happened?" Ginny whispered in his ear.

"Just a little Sibling Rivalry." Harry whispered back.

A/N- We (HarryPotterTwilightlover and me) decided we wanted to see this story continue and not be over! So, here's another installment of _Sibling Rivalry_! I think I like this one the best! It's so sweet and wonderful! I love Lily in it!

Okay, now, same as yesterday, PLEASE REVIEW! If you do, which I hope you do, hop on over to HarryPotterTwilightlover on and give her a review too! We love reviews, and REALLY want some! :D Please!


	3. Grape Jelly

Sibling Rivalry- Ch. 3

James- 11 Albus- 10 Lily- 8

One rainy, March day, James sat in his room, bored out of his mind. He hated rainy days, for there was never anything fun to do! As he thought over something fun he could do, he remembered a prank he'd been planning in his mind for sometime now. He knew he probably shouldn't, for last time he had gotten into huge trouble, but that thought only sprung up another brilliant idea; ask Lily for help!

James quickly ran over to Lily's room. He found her sitting on the floor, playing with some toys.

"Hey, Lily-bug!" James exclaimed anxiously. "You wanna help your favorite brother with something?

"Like what, Jamesie?" Lily asked curiously.

"Well, you know how we like to pull pranks?" James started.

"Oh yes, like the one you did last time and Daddy told you off?" Lily asked with a small smirk.

"Yes, Lily-bug, like that one, but you don't want that to happen again do you?" James asked her.

"Well, okay but that time you deserved it!" Lily pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess I did," James said easily. "You wanna help me with this one?"

"Oh yes, Jamesie! I would love to!" Lily exclaimed excitedly.

"How about this time, you pull the prank!" James exclaimed, trying to make it seem like this was a wonderful idea.

"Okay! But on one condition." Lily was great at getting what she wanted.

"Okay, Lily-bug, what's your condition?" James asked.

"The next time we go to The Burrow, you HAVE to let me play with you and Freddie!"

"Okay, but this time ONLY!" James said sternly.

"Good! Now, what must I do, Jamesie?" Lily asked excitedly.

"Okay, Albus is in his room playing, but later he's going to go downstairs to meet Dad when he comes home," James explained.

"Okay," Lily nodded her head.

"Now, you need to go get the jelly out of the fridge," James instructed her.

"Jelly?" Lily furrowed her eyebrows together.

"Yes, jelly!" James exclaimed like it was the most obvious, logical idea. "Now, you're going to go get the jelly and spread it on the stairs, so when Albus comes running down the stairs, he'll fall!"

"Mwahahaha!" Lily had been practicing her evil laugh, and had been quite pleased with what she'd come up with. She giggled, before going on. "I like it already!" She exclaimed.

"Yes it is! Now, Mummy's outside, so I will keep watch on her, while you get the jelly, okay Lily-bug?" James told her.

"Okay, Jamesie!" Lily exclaimed.

Lily quietly tiptoed out of her bedroom, and down the stairs. She entered the kitchen and quickly went to the fridge. She grabbed the grape jelly, and a spoon and rushed up to the top of the stairs.

When she got up there, James whispered to her, "Lily, all systems go!"

"You got it!" Lily whispered back.

Lily stood at the top of the stairs, and slowly got to her knees. She opened the grape jelly, and gripped the spoon tightly. She quickly spread jelly all over the top few stairs, while James stood over her.

"Lily, great job!" James exclaimed when she'd finished. "I'm so proud to call you my sister!" Lily smiled, before a look of guilt crossed her face.

"Are you sure this is okay?" Lily asked guiltily.

"Oh yes! It's all good!" James told her encouragingly.

As this went on, Ginny walked into the backdoor, and James heard her.

"Bloody Hell!" James exclaimed.

"Oh no!" Lily said in fear. They both looked at each other, before rushing down the stairs.

"MUMMY!" They exclaimed together.

"What?" Ginny exclaimed in amusement.

"Where are you going?" James asked.

"Upstairs," Ginny said in confusion. "Is that okay?"

"No!" James exclaimed, before realizing his mistake. "I mean, uh, stay down here, Mummy! We've missed you!" He quickly covered up.

"I've only been gone 30 minutes." Ginny said with a grin.

"Yeah, 30 minutes too long!" Lily jumped in.

"I'll be right back, I'm just going to go upstairs!" Ginny told them.

"No!" Lily exclaimed. "Mummy! You may slip-" Lily started to say, but James jabbed her in the stomach.

"What Lily means is, uh, ummm, you may miss us too much!" James quickly tried to cover up.

As James said this, Harry apparated into the room.

"DADDY!" James and Lily exclaimed happily.

"Hey, kids!" Harry said with a big grin, as he gave both of his children big hugs.

When Harry let her go, Lily rushed to the foot of the stairs.

"ALBUS!" She yelled, and she heard Albus start running down the stairs, and he quickly slipped and full down the remaining stairs.

"BLOODY HELL!" Albus exclaimed.

"Albus, language!" Ginny exclaimed sternly. "Man, your Uncle Ron is rubbing off on all three of you!"

"Al, did you fall down?" Harry asked in concern as he walked over to his second oldest son.

"NO!" Albus exclaimed in frustration. "I slipped on GRAPE JELLY!"

"Grape Jelly?" Harry asked in confusion, and Albus nodded. Harry and Ginny walked up the stairs, and saw the purple, gooey substance on the stairs.

"Everyone in the living room, now!" Harry shouted, and the whole family went to the family room off of the kitchen. Everyone was quickly seated, excluding Harry and Ginny. Harry pinched the bridge of his nose, and closed his eyes, before speaking.

"Would anyone like to explain why there is grape jelly on the top stairs of the staircase?" Harry asked patiently. Lily and James fidgeted in their seats.

"LILY DID IT!" James yelled after a minute of silence.

"JAMES! HOW COULD YOU?" Lily yelled back.

"Lily? James?" Harry raised his eyebrows at the two children.

"Well, uh, umm, Daddy," Lily started. "I was in my room playing, not bothering anyone, and then James came in and told me I HAD to pull this nasty prank on Albus!"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" James yelled at her. "You wanted to do it!"

"Enough!" Ginny yelled to get over the noise of her children. "I want the truth, and I want it now!"

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you…" James' voice trailed off. "I was in my room, bored because of the rain and I walked into Lily's room and asked her if she wanted to help me pull a prank on Albus and she agreed, so we did and that's why we didn't want you to go upstairs, Mum. We didn't know Dad was coming home so early or it would have worked."

"James, we've been over this!" Harry exclaimed impatiently. "How hard is it not to pull pranks?" Harry sighed, before turning to his only daughter. "And Lily! I can't believe you! I am so very disappointed."

"But Daddy!" Lily exclaimed. "I'm the best kid! Let's just pretend it was James, no one else has to know!" Lily's voice was pleading.

"James, Lily," Harry started. "Apologize to your brother and go to your rooms, you might as well get used to it, as you will be spending all week there." Both Lily and James moaned.

"Sorry, Al." They both murmured before they left for their rooms.

"Dad, I didn't bother them or anything today! And I'm the one who always gets pranked!" Albus exclaimed in frustration.

"Al, I don't know." Harry sighed. "But I can promise you, it won't happen again." Albus quickly stood.

"Dad, don't make promises you can't keep! If you get James to quit pranking that will be the day!" Albus shouted. "I'm going to my room!" Albus rushed from the room, leaving his parents alone.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Lily snuck into James' room.

"James, even though we got into trouble, it was funny when Albus slipped!" Lily said with a small giggle.

"Yes, it was little sister, yes it was." James agreed with a smug smile.

"Don't forget your promise!" Lily said sternly, before she happily skipped out of his room.

"Wouldn't dream of it," James muttered with a smile and shake of his head.

A/N- today is a very special day for me and Halie! Today is our twenty day friendaversary! I love you, Halie! :D Thank you for being my Triple B, and thank you for all you do! I can't wait to write more of OUR story, and I love you to pieces!

On another different note, please review! We really love reviews, and please (like always) go to her (HarryPotterTwilightlover) story and review there too! We appreciate it tons!


	4. Struggles Of The Youngest Child

Struggles Of The Youngest Child

Teddy- 14 James- 8 Albus- 7 Lily- 5

One rainy, April morning, the Potter children were awakening to the smell of their mothers cooking. All three children quickly scrambled out of bed, and rushed down the fancy, twirly stairs, and quickly went through the large doors to their kitchen.

"Good morning," Ginny called as she swished her wand from where she sat at the table, reading over the _Daily Prophet_.

"Morning, Mum." All three children called and they too came to sit at the small kitchen table in the breakfast nook, facing the front window.

"Al, could you please set the table?" Ginny looked up from the paper and faced her middle child. Albus groaned.

"Why can't somebody else do it?" Albus whined.

"Because I asked you to." Ginny told him as she gave him _her look_. The look that when given, all three children, and Harry, knew she meant business. At Ginny's words, Albus rolled his eyes and moodily got to his feet and sulked over to the cupboards and drawers he'd need access too.

As this was going on, James couldn't help but snicker at his brother's misfortune.

"If it sounds so funny, why don't you help Albus?" Ginny quickly asked James.

"Okay…" James grumbled under his breath and he stood up to help his little brother out.

As James and Albus were setting the table, James glanced over at Lily, and an idea came to his mind.

"Well why can't Lily help?" James asked.

"Because I'm to wittle." Lily replied matter-of-factly. At this, James just shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"You never have to do anything!" James exclaimed.

"Me and James do everything." Albus quickly agreed.

"Oh, if you're always doing everything why don't you clean up the dishes after breakfast." Ginny said idly, and she and Lily shared a look.

"Ugh, Mum!" James and Albus whined. "Do we have to?" Lily giggled.

"You just wait, Lily Potter!" James exclaimed, while shooting his little sister a death glare.

"I'm not scared of you!" Lily exclaimed.

"You better be!" Albus told her seriously.

"Well I'm not!" Lily retorted, a look of defiance on her face.

"You will be." James told her.

"Nuh-uh." Lily disagreed.

"Uh-huh."

"Nuh-uh."

"Uh-huh!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Uh-huh!"

As James and Lily went back and forth multiple times, Harry came walking into the kitchen, dressed in his Auror robes, ready for work. When the children saw their father, all thoughts of the argument flooded from their mind.

"Daddy!" Lily ran over to Harry and hugged him tightly. Harry hugged her back, before making his way over to Ginny. He came up behind her, and wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek.

"Good morning, Gin." He mumbled into her hair.

"Good morning, love." Ginny mumbled back.

Harry then made his way to the other side of the table and sat down next to James, whom had just barely been seated again.

"So boys, what're your plans for the day?" Harry asked his sons.

"Well me and Albus," James started to say, while putting emphasis on his brother's name, and glancing over at Lily. "Are going to ride our toy brooms."

"Oh fun." Harry told them. "What're you gonna do, Lily." Lily just shrugged.

"I don't know." She told her father in a sad voice.

"Oh I'm sure you'll find something." Harry told her with a smile.

Just then, Ginny, who had previously gotten up, came back over to the table carrying plates of food. The family idly spoke as they ate their breakfast.

As breakfast came to an end, Harry bid his family goodbye, and floo'd over to the Ministry for work.

"I'll leave you two to the dishes." Ginny said to James and Albus as she and Lily too left the kitchen.

"Yay," James mumbled in a sarcastic tone of voice.

Soon enough, the boys finished up the dishes, and found Ginny.

"Can me and Albus go outside and ride our brooms." James asked Ginny when they found her and Lily.

Ginny looked outside and found that the rain had stopped, and the sun had come out.

"Sure, but how about you include Lily?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, ummm, maybe later, bye!" James said in a rush and he and Albus darted off.

After a while of riding broomsticks, James and Albus decided they'd take a short break. They came down from the sky and took seats on a nearby log. As they sat and talked, Lily came rushing outside, her pigtails flailing around. Lily quickly rushed over to her big brothers.

"What'cha doin'?" Lily asked as she teetered on her feet.

"Quidditch stuff. Nothing you'd understand." Albus told her.

"I know about Quidditch." Lily said, a look of hope on her face.

"Yeah, sure…" Albus' voice trailed off, a smug look on his face.

"You don't even know how to ride a broom." James said.

"I will in two years." Lily said mockingly.

"Well that's forever away." Albus shot back.

"Well when I do I'll be a lot faster than you." Lily told them.

"Well you're a girl!" Albus exclaimed.

"Mummy's a girl and she played for the Harpies." Lily pointed out.

Sensing defeat, James glared at his sister and shouted,

"Just shut-up and go away!"

"I don't have to!" Lily said sternly.

"Just go away, nobody likes you!" James yelled.

"You're mean!" Lily shot back and she ran back up to the house in tears.

Only second later, Ginny swung open the door.

"James! Albus!" She yelled and both boys quickly shot up, easily detecting the madness in her voice and rushing inside.

"Why is your baby sister in tears?" Ginny asked sternly.

"Umm…"

"Um…"

"Ummm…" The two boys stuttered.

"James did it!" Albus quickly exclaimed.

"What? No I didn't!" James too exclaimed.

"You liar." Lily turned on James, tears falling down her cheeks.

"I am not a liar!" James exclaimed.

"Ya-huh!"

"Uh-uh!"

"Yah-huh!"

"Uh-uh!"

"Ya-huh!"

"Enough!" Ginny cut into their argument. "Now what happened?" Ginny added.

"Well," Lily began, her hands on her hips. "I, very nicely, walked up to them. And I, ever so nicely, asked what they were doing. And they told me to go away and that nobody liked me, and said girls can't play Quidditch."

"Girls can too play Quidditch!" Ginny exclaimed, obviously forgetting the other part of the conversation. "Who told you that?"

"Uncle Ron." Albus said defensively, trying to place the blame on someone else for once.

"Well I will be talking to him later." Ginny said. "Now back to the issue, James, why did you tell Lily to go away?"

"Because she's a girl." James answered.

"I'm a girl." Ginny said.

"So, you're my mum." James says.

"It doesn't matter if she's a boy or a girl, we'll talk about it later, now run along back outside."

After a while of riding their brooms, James and Albus decided to take another break. While sitting down, Lily comes skipping outside.

"Lily, go back inside, for the last time, you can't play with us." Albus told her.

"I don't' want to play with you. I'm just telling you that lunch I ready." Lily told them before running back inside.

"You've done it now!" James exclaimed, punching Albus' shoulder.

"Ow!" Albus exclaimed.

Harry had decided to come home for lunch, knowing that Ginny would appreciate the extra help. As Harry floo'd home, into the flooing room, he distantly heard the heartbreaking sobs of his youngest daughter. His mind wondered with curiously, and he followed the sound of the cried to find Ginny and a tear streaked face Lily, in the kitchen.

Harry walked over to Lily and kneeled down in front of her and asked,

"Lily-love, what's the matter?"

"J-ames aand A-lbus are big fat meanies!" Lily chocked out.

"And why's that?" Harry asked calmly.

"They won't let me play with them." Lily answered.

"Oh I see. How about you go into the living room and floo call Hugo, so that I can talk to your mum for a bit." Harry told her and Lily ran off, and into the living room to floo call Hugo.

Harry then took a seat next to Ginny and asked,

"What's the problem?"

"Oh Merlin, where to start…" Ginny groaned with a shake of her head.

"How about the beginning." Harry said cheekily.

"Easy for you to say." Ginny retorted.

"I'm waiting…" Harry said with his voice trailing off.

Ginny then took time to explain how the morning had gone about. Harry just shook his head and chuckled wryly.

"What's so funny?" Ginny asked in exasperation.

"Oh the irony of the situation." Harry answered nonchalantly.

"Well you didn't have to put up with it all morning." Ginny told him.

"I'm sorry, love." Harry gave her a sympathetic look. "What should we do now?"

"Well the boys are sitting right outside." Ginny said cheekily. Harry just laughed, and he stood and kissed her forehead before going out back.

Once outside, Harry fixed his sons with a look and said,

"Get inside. Now."

James and Albus looked at each other in confusion and flew down to meet Harry, who led them inside. On the way inside, Albus whispered into James' ear,

"I guess Dad knows about it too." James nudged Albus in the rear with a look of 'oh-I-didn't-know' on his face.

As they made their way to the living room they over heard Lily on the floo, talking to Hugo.

"… they were just so mean to me!"

"Well Rosie's mean to me!" Hugo said.

"Well not as means as James and Albus." Lily insisted. "They're coming in here, I'll talk to you later." Lily stood up and walked over to the couch and sat down. Ginny then walked in. James and Albus sat in an armchair made fore one, trying to stay close together, and staying as far away from Harry as they could.

Harry then came in and sat down by Ginny.

"Would you boys like to start?" Harry asked.

"Start what?" Albus asked, trying to play dumb.

"The reason your little sister was crying." Harry said, and Lily smiled smugly.

"Oh, that." James pretended to remember and chuckled.

"Yeah, that." Harry said.

"Well…." James' voice trailed off.

"James was mean to me first." Lily interrupted.

"Oh, was he now." Harry said. James shot a glare at Lily and in retaliation she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oh, yeah, James was like so mean to her." Albus said.

"Oh what were you?" James asked, glaring at his brother.

"Well not as mean as you were!" Albus exclaimed.

"What happened to sticking together?" James exclaimed.

"Sorry, big bro." Albus murmured.

"Don't let it happen again, lil bro." James answered.

All of a sudden, Teddy walked in and exclaimed,

"Hey family!"

"Teddy, do you mind, we're trying to solve a problem." Harry answered.

"Oh, don't mind me, I'm not even here." Teddy said the last bit in a whisper and sat on the other armchair quietly.

"Hey Teddy." Albus waved, hoping to get everyone's mind on something else.

"Just because Teddy's here doesn't mean the world stops." Harry said.

"My bad." Albus whispered. Teddy just laughed.

"Daddy, James and Albus were very, very mean to me." Lily said, hoping to get her family back on track.

"Lily, we weren't that bad." James whined.

"Yes you were!" Lily shot back.

"James and Albus, your behavior today was unacceptable." Harry told them, giving both of them pointed looks.

James and Albus looked at each other knowing the dreaded part of the conversation was now happening.

"Dad, we told her she couldn't play two times and she wouldn't listen! How hard is it to listen? She's always bothering us and always in the way." James said this while yelling, and inching towards the edge of his chair.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! First of all, you don't speak to me like that," As Harry spoke, Teddy started to laugh loudly, and Harry turned to his eldest son. "Umm… not here?" Harry asked, giving him a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, sorry." Teddy mumbled.

"Second, Lily is only five. Third, when I told you to include your siblings, I didn't just mean Al, you need to make time for both." Harry went on.

"She's a girl, Dad!" James jumped in. "A girl who can't play Quidditch."

"I thought I told you not to listen to your Uncle Ron!" Ginny exclaimed. Harry placed a gentle hand on her knee and said,

"They're just kids, Gin. Moving on, you could have taught her how." Harry said and Lily's eyes lit up.

"Absolutely not! She's only five!" Ginny exclaimed and Lily groaned.

"Mum…!"

"Lily, you could fall and get hurt." Harry explained to her.

"Nuh-uh! Not if Teddy's there to catch me!" Lily insisted.

"I could catch you!" James told her.

"Nuh-uh, you're not my favorite brother anymore." Lily told him.

"Who is then?" Albus asked her.

"Me!" Teddy exclaimed.

"We should all love each other equally." Harry said.

"But I'm your favorite, Dad!" James exclaimed.

"Uh-huh, yeah, sure, keep thinking that." Harry smiled.

"Okay, I will." James answered.

"No, I'm Daddy's favorite." Lily cut in. "You're his least favorites."

"Hey! What about me?" Albus exclaimed.

"Albus, I think the time has come for you to know, you were adopted." Teddy said. As Teddy finished the sentence, Albus quickly looked to Ginny with a fearful look in his eyes.

"Really?" Albus asked.

"No. Teddy just thinks he's funny sometimes." Ginny answered.

"Just keep thinking that Teddy, just keep thinking that." Harry said.

"I think you're funny, Teddy." Lily told him.

"Thanks, Lils." Teddy said.

"Are you just going to let James and Albus off the hook again?" Lily abruptly exclaimed.

"Most certainly not." Harry said.

"I thought they had forgotten," James mumbled almost inaudibly to Albus.

"What was that?" Harry asked.

"If I would've wanted you to hear I would've told you." James said sassily.

"James!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Bad move, James. You're just digging yourself deeper into trouble." Teddy told James.

"I agree with Teddy." Harry said nonchalantly.

"So how long are their brooms being taken for?" Lily then decided to ask.

"No, not our brooms!" Albus exclaimed.

"Yeah, you think about this next time you pick on your little sister." Ginny told them seriously.

"Not so cool as we thought we were." Lily said in a high, singsong voice.

"Alright, alright, Lily." Harry said. "Okay boys, your brooms will be taken away for a week."

"A whole week!" Albus said in a high pitched voice.

"You wanna make it two?" Ginny asked, her voice mimicking his in tone.

"Or three?" Harry added.

"Or four?" Teddy said.

"Or five?" Lily added last.

"One is fine." James said in an assuring voice.

"That's what I thought." Ginny said.

"You're smart, Mummy." Lily said sweetly.

"Suck up." Albus murmured and Lily suck her tongue out at him.

"Oh and you're not?" Teddy asked, amusement in his voice.

"Isn't it time for you to go back to your grandmother's?" Albus asked, turning on Teddy.

"Isn't it time for you to go back to the orphanage?" Teddy asked.

"Ha-ha, you're so funny." Albus said dryly.

"Got your dad's sense of sarcasm." Ginny said with a chuckle.

"And he got his stupidness from your side of the family." Harry said, smiling at Ginny.

"Oooh, Dad said stupid…" James said.

"yeah, we don't say stupid." Ginny said.

"Teddy says stupid all the time." Lily pointed out.

"Hey Uncle Harry, let's all go outside and play Quidditch." Teddy said, trying to get the conversation away from him.

"But we can't play!" James exclaimed.

"So? You're point being…?" Harry asked.

"The point being we can't play!" James said.

"Aw, too bad for you." Harry said as he stood up.

"I'll show you how girls play Quidditch." Ginny said.

"Yeah…" Lily taunted.

"Bye, see you… whenever!" Harry said.

"See ya." James and Albus said.

Author's Notes:

I'm not sure what to say except that I am so terribly sorry that this took so long. Both Halie and I have been VERY busy, and lots has been going on; it's life! But, we are both so proud of this one, and love it dearly, and hope you all do too!

P.S.- PLEASE go read her authors notes for a better summary and for betterness all around! She's amazing!

I LOVE YOU, HALIE!


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